Say Anything
by Luna Nueva
Summary: Horatio realizes that he has fallen in love with Calleigh but doesn't know how to tell her until something happens that forces him to.
1. The Realization

Horatio sighed as he climbed out of the tan H2. It had been a hard day's work. He had driven all over Miami just trying to find his younger sister. Of course, she wasn't his biological sister, but they considered themselves siblings. Horatio had received a call from Lena's sister saying that she couldn't find Lena, but didn't want to call the police just yet, and asked Horatio if he could help her. He didn't have a murder case to be working on, so he went out to help find Lena. When he found her, she had been raped and was hiding in a dark corner of an alley crying. Horatio now had a case that he had to work on.

Horatio walked into the lab at six o'clock in the morning the next day to find Calleigh sleeping on the sidewalk next to the lab. "Calleigh? Wake up. What are you doing sleeping out here?" Calleigh jumped when she heard Horatio's voice. "Oh! I'm sorry! I came here late last night and I couldn't find my keys to get inside, and I was so tired, so I thought that I'd just sit down for a second and I guess that I fell asleep. I'll try not to do it again."

"It's okay, Calleigh. Just be extra careful. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"What does that mean, handsome?"

"Last night, my surrogate sister was beaten and raped, and after finding you here this morning, I was worried that something may have happened to you."

"Oh. Sorry, H. I wont do it again." Horatio helped Calleigh stand up. When she was standing, Calleigh found herself very close to Horatio, but instead of the moment being awkward and embarrassing, she found that she liked the feeling of being close to him. She looked up at Horatio, and when he finally noticed how close they were, he took a sudden step back, and turned a deep shade of purple. "Umm… let's go inside and start working on my sisters' case." Calleigh let out a small chuckle. "Okay, handsome. Let's go." Horatio once again turned purple. He had never before let on that he liked Calleigh as more than a friend and co-worker, in fact he had never even noticed these feelings before. Now that he recognized them, he felt like a teenager again, and after that, he became somewhat shy around Calleigh. By the end of the week, Horatio finally stopped blushing. Two weeks later, Horatio had found his sister's rapist, and came to the lab once again at six o'clock, to find Calleigh… asleep.

"Cal. Wake up. Didn't you promise that you weren't going to sleep outside again?"

"Oh, god… I'm sorry, Horatio. I had a, uhh… umm… bad night at home last night, so I came up here. I'm sorry for breaking the promise, but I had to leave. I couldn't stay in my house; I had to get out." Horatio looked worriedly at Calleigh. What had happened that was so bad that she broke her promise to him and came and slept in front of the lab again?


	2. Problems

"Calleigh? What happened?"

"Can't tell you, Handsome. He'll kill me. This is one of those times where you know something happened, but won't find out."

"Calleigh, you know what my job is. I will find out. And if Hagen has anything to do with this, I want you to tell me now." Calleigh looked down. She knew that if Horatio found out, he would kill him, and she didn't want to be the cause of the head of the CSI team being thrown in jail. She loved Horatio too much for that. Calleigh started to turn pink when she realized that she actually loved him. Calleigh then looked back up at Horatio. He had a pleading look in his eyes. All Calleigh could do was shake her head as a tear slid down her cheek. "Calleigh, tell me. I can tell that it had something to do with Hagen. I won't kill him, I promise. Unless he tries to pull a gun on me or something like that, I won't lay a finger on him."

"I can't, Horatio. He'll kill me."

"Not if I'm around. I'll make sure that he goes through me first, and you know that it's hard to get through me." Horatio pulled Calleigh into a warm hug. "As long as I'm around, no one will ever hurt you." Calleigh started crying into Horatio's shoulder. When she finished ten minutes later, Horatio took her inside to his office. "Calleigh, tell me. As your boss and friend, I need to know."

"You just had to use that one, didn't you handsome?"

"Works every time. What happened?" Calleigh took a deep breath. "I… I… I can't." Calleigh lifted her shirt. "He'll kill me." Calleigh was wearing a wire. _That explains a lot_, thought Horatio. _Now I need to find a different way to find out… but how? They'd suspect me having her write it, but if she leaves "evidence," then I could piece it together._ "Are you sure that you can't tell me?" Horatio winked at Calleigh, letting her know that he had a plan. "I can't, H. He'll kill me."

"OK, but as soon as you feel safe, I want you to tell me."

"Alright. I will." As Calleigh was talking, Horatio was pulling paper out of his desk. On it, he wrote, "Leave me clues as to what happened. I'll piece them together myself, and go from there." Calleigh nodded her head in agreement.

Later on that day, Horatio received a call for a murder. On his way out of the lab, Horatio spotted a piece of paper on the ground. As he picked it up, he saw that it said "Clue #1" and had a rough picture of a big burly guy on it. Underneath the picture there was a badge with an ID number on it. The number read 99147. Horatio folded the paper and walked out of the building. Upon his arrival, Horatio saw Calleigh surveying the scene for any bullets. Several yards behind her was Det. John Hagen, glaring at Calleigh. "Hagen, what are you doing here? This isn't your jurisdiction. This is an average civilian."

"I need to talk to Calleigh."

"Not now, you don't. She's working right now. If you want to talk to her, do so after she's off."

"This is important."

"So is solving this murder."

"If I don't get to talk to her I'll-"

"What? Do I hear a threat about to be spoken? Don't threaten anyone on my team."

"I wasn't threatening her, or you. I was saying that I'd kill myself if I didn't get to talk to her." Horatio sighed. "Fine, but you'd better make this fast. Calleigh! Come here, please." Calleigh stood and turned. When she saw Hagen, she turned white. "I can't. I need to finish surveying the scene. I've already found two casings and one bullet, now I need to find the other one." Hagen snorted. "Calleigh, get over here. I need to talk to you."

"Not now, John. I have to work."

"This is important."

"Not as important as solving this crime."

"Calleigh, just take a quick break, I need to talk to you about something."

"I'm not taking a break just because you want to talk. Talk to me later, after I'm off."

"Calleigh. Now." Calleigh then saw the anger in his eyes. She walked over to him. "What?"

"Don't go to the lab tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Just don't."

"John, I'm working on a case. I have to go."

"No. You're not going."

"Says who?"

"I do. What I say, goes." Calleigh shook her head. "I'm going to work. You're not stopping me." Hagen raised his arm to hit her, but Horatio stepped in and took the hit. "Excuse me, would one of you gentlemen please arrest him?" Horatio asked some of the residing officers. "With pleasure." Horatio took Hagen's badge. The ID number was 99147. "Calleigh, now that we have him arrested, what did he do?"

"If you tell him, I'll kill you, you skinny, dumb ass bitch!"

"The hell with that, Hagen! You won't lay a finger on me!"

"What makes you so sure?"

"Horatio's here. As long as he's here, no one will ever hurt me." Calleigh looked at Horatio and smiled. The arresting officer led Hagen to his squad car. Calleigh turned to Horatio and started to tell him about what was going on. "When I left my house last night, Hagen had been drinking, and had come to my house. We had been talking and then Hagen jumped on me. He started to rip my shirt off of me, I fought back with all I had, but didn't get away until Hagen had my shirt off of me. I grabbed the closest shirt and ran out of my house while still putting it on. I went to your house for a while to hide, but Hagen found me there. Then I remembered that I had told Hagen that I had promised you that wouldn't sleep in front of the lab anymore, so I went there, knowing that Hagen thought that I would go through with the promise. I got the wire during the struggle. Just before I got away from him, he taped the wire onto me and told me that if I took it off or told anyone about what happened, he would kill me. I believed him. I had to. He's been abusing me for so long, that now, if he says that he'll do something to me, I believe him. I guess it's just a way of survival." Calleigh looked up at Horatio to see how he'd reacted. Just at that moment, there was a gunshot. Horatio grabbed Calleigh and threw her to the ground and covered her with his body. The bullet had been aimed at Calleigh, but Horatio took it instead. The bullet went through his left shoulder; dangerously close to his heart. Blood was everywhere. Horatio had become very pale. "Calleigh, there's something I need to tell you."

"Don't talk. Please, reserve your energy." Calleigh looked into Horatio's clear blue eyes. _He'll be okay. He has to be, he can't die without me telling him about how I feel. I have to tell him._ "Horatio. I need to tell you something." Horatio weakly looked back into Calleigh's eyes. "Let me tell you first, please. It's truly important."

"Okay…"

"I… love… you." Horatio passed out of consciousness. "HORATIO! WAKE UP!" Calleigh went into hysterics. "Don't die, Horatio! Please, don't leave me. I need you here. I love you." Calleigh buried her face into Horatio's bloody chest, sobbing. She could feel Horatio's shallow breathing. _He's not dead. He's going to make it!_ The paramedics came and took Horatio to the hospital. The doctor came out and told Calleigh that things weren't looking good. "Is there a chance that he'll make it?"

"Yes, but it's very small. The bullet came only a centimeter away from his heart. We're having a hard time extracting it without damaging the heart. Don't expect him to live, miss. He almost as good as gone." With those last words the doctor returned to the surgery room where Horatio was fighting for his life. _You can do it, Horatio. You can make it._ Three hours later, the doctor returned. "How is Horatio?"

"Well miss, I'm afraid that we lost him."


	3. Relief

**A/N: I don't own any of the characters, but I do own this story. Thanks to all of my reviewers! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so please keep on! And Ashley, thanks for being my beta girl, whatever that is.**

Calleigh couldn't believe her ears. Lost him? Horatio? How could this be possible? Calleigh stood up to go to the operating room. She had to see him. She had to get away from the doctor who lost the love of her life. Suddenly, she felt angry. She wanted revenge. "How could you lose him," Calleigh yelled at the doctor. "How?"

"Miss, you didn't let me finish." Calleigh looked up at him with a renewed hope. "We lost him during the operation, but were able to resuscitate him. He's in critical condition right now, but we have the bullet out of him and things are looking good. He has an 80 chance of living. You can go see him now if you like." An 80 chance of living. Calleigh felt as if she could cry from the relief. _He's going to be okay, just like I thought. I knew he would make it. Now I just have to tell him how I feel where he can hear me._ Calleigh followed the doctor to Horatio's room and found Horatio sleeping. She turned to the doctor to let him know that he could leave. At first the doctor lingered, but Calleigh shot him a look that made him take the hint to **GO AWAY**. Calleigh walked over to the hospital bed that Horatio was in. He looked so small in that huge bed that Calleigh just wanted him to be out of it and looking like his normal, muscular, 6'1" self. "Hey, Handsome. How're you feelin'?"

"Like shit. But seeing you makes me feel much better."

"Horatio, there's something that I never got to tell you before you passed out."

"What is it?" Calleigh's breath caught. This was it, the moment that Horatio found out how she felt. She felt nauseous, but she liked the feeling this time. "Before you passed out, I wanted you to know how I felt about you."

"Do you still feel the same way?"

"Even more so now."

"How do you feel about me?"

"Horatio… what I'm wanting to tell you is the same thing you told me, just the other way around. I love you, Horatio. Not John, not some random guy on the street, you. Just you." There. She had said it. She told him. She felt wonderful. "You really feel that way about me?"

"Yes. That's why I was saying all of that in front of Hagen and smiled at you the way I did. Unlike some other girls around here, I don't like to send out mixed messages."

"Who are some other girls?"

"I don't know. I just know that some other girls in Miami make a hobby out of sending nice guys mixed messages."

"Oh." Horatio smiled at Calleigh. When he had told Calleigh of his feelings for her, Horatio thought that she would turn from him. He now felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Now he had something to ask her.


	4. Revenge

**A/N: Thanks for your reviews! In this chapter, I felt like heating things up a bit between Horatio and Calleigh. Enjoy!**

"Calleigh, when I get outta here, do you want to come over to my place for dinner sometime?"

"Are you cookin'?"

"If you like."

"Then count me in. I love good home-cooked food."

When Calleigh went home that night, all she could think about was her upcoming dinner with Horatio. She wondered what he would make. Because she was so preoccupied with thoughts of Horatio, Calleigh didn't notice that her front door was standing ajar. Calleigh just simply walked in without a clue as to what was going on. She deposited her purse on her dining room table and proceeded up the steps to her room. "Hey, bitch. How's life treating you?" Calleigh spun around to see Hagen's best friend and Yelina's ex-boyfriend standing next to her closet. "What are you doing here, Stetler?"

"Your precious boyfriend put Hagen in jail. I'm here to get revenge. I almost got it before, but unfortunately my bullet hit the wrong target and didn't even kill the one that it hit."

"_You_ shot Horatio?"

"Yes. But since that first plan didn't work, I'm here to put my second plan to work."

"What do you think you're gonna do?"

"You'll soon find out, Calleigh. You'll soon find out." Calleigh turned to run, but Stetler, being closer to the door, stopped her. "Unh-unh-unh. Don't try to run. You'll only prolong your pain." Calleigh froze. Pain? What was he going to do to her? She couldn't pretend to be brave anymore. She was terrified beyond that point. Then she remembered what she had told Hagen. _"Horatio's here. As long as he's here, no one will ever hurt me."_ Calleigh shivered. "That's right, blondie. Your beloved Horatio isn't here to protect you. And while he's not here, I'm gonna hurt you." Calleigh turned and ran to her window. She tried to open it, but Stetler pulled her away just as it started to slide open. Stetler threw Calleigh onto her bed. _What is he going to do to me? Horatio! I really need you right now! I wish that I had never said that to Hagen._ At first Calleigh struggled with Stetler, but when he ripped her shirt off of her despite all of her struggles, Calleigh gave up and forced herself to become numb. An hour later, Stetler was done. He simply finished and walked out of Calleigh's house. Calleigh went over what had happened in her head. She had been raped. Stetler had also taken out his knife and had cut the words "THIS ISN'T THE END" on her stomach. Those words were aimed at Horatio, which frightened Calleigh. Stetler used the knife to chop Calleigh's hair off to her neck. The next day she'd have to go to the beauticians and get her hair evened up. Stetler had started to cut off one of her fingers, but Calleigh kicked him in the groin area before he got very far. Not wanting that to happen again, Stetler gave up on dismembering Calleigh's hand. Then he decided that he was finished and left. Calleigh then went and took a shower. After she got out of the shower, Calleigh haphazardly threw on some clothes, ran downstairs, grabbed her purse and got into her Hummer. She put her keys into the ignition, but hesitated on deciding where she would go. It was nine o'clock, so that meant that visiting hours at the hospital were long over, but she didn't want to go to Eric or Alexx's house. Alexx would know what to do for the cuts, but she couldn't provide the sense of safety that Calleigh needed. Eric would treat her as a guest, but seeing as how he was strong, Calleigh would feel safe there. When Calleigh saw Stetler, she just started the engine and drove off, not knowing where she would go, just knowing that she wanted to be away. Before she knew it, Calleigh found herself in front of the hospital where Horatio was being treated. _Might as well go in. What have I got to lose?_ As Calleigh headed up to Horatio's room, a nurse stopped her. "Where are you going? It's pass visiting hours."

"I know, but there's something important that I need to tell Horatio Caine. It's CSI business."

"Alright. Do you know how long it will take?"

"I'm afraid not. There's a lot of details so it may take awhile. Do you think that I could stay the night? That would insure that I got all of the information to him."

"Fine. Obviously you know hospital rules and seeing as how it's so important that you come even though you know visiting hours, I'll let you. You'd better not make me regret this."

"Ma'am, I assure that I will not be the cause of anything going awry."

"Good. I'll be up there with a bed as soon as possible." The nurse started to walk away. "Ma'am, actually, I was hoping that maybe I could spare you the trouble and share the hospital bed with Horatio. It's rather large and I could fit without doing any harm to him."

"I appreciate that. If anyone gives you any trouble about that, just tell them that Arleene told you it was fine. That'll shut 'em up quick."

"Alright. Thank you." Calleigh turned and walked to Horatio's room. What would he do when Calleigh told him about what Stetler did to her? Calleigh wanted to wait to find out, but knew if she did, Horatio's reaction would be much worse than if she had just told him straight out. Calleigh carefully scooted Horatio over and made room for herself. "Mmmmph. Calleigh? What are you doing here? It's after hours."

"I know, Handsome. Arleene told me that it would be fine. There's something that I have to tell you, but don't get overly angry. Okay?"

"That depends on what you tell me. By the way, why is your hair so short? It was so pretty when it was long." Calleigh couldn't hold it in anymore. She had failed to make herself numb. She told Horatio what had happened to her in between sobs. When she finished, she completely broke down and cried on Horatio's shoulder for half an hour. Horatio forced himself to not get too angry so that he could comfort Calleigh. Calleigh fell asleep with her head on Horatio's shoulder and her arms around his waist. Horatio resolved that when he got out of the hospital he would give Calleigh the best dinner she'd ever had, and then he'd go after Stetler himself. Horatio then fell asleep with his head on Calleigh's, one arm around her waist; the other on her shoulder.


	5. Dinner and a guard dog

A week after he had been shot, Horatio was released from the hospital. Calleigh went over to his house and helped to take care of him. One month later, Horatio was well enough to go back to work and then he cooked supper for Calleigh like he had promised. Calleigh swore up and down that Horatio should have been a chef for some really fancy restaurant and not a Criminalist. "I'm really not all that great…"

"Horatio, you are all that great. Believe me; I know good cookin' when I eat it."

"OK… I'll take your word for it." Calleigh smiled. She looked so different with her hair short, but she was still beautiful. The day after her rape, she took Eric to her house and cleaned up the mess. She sent her cut hair to Locks of Love, where it would be made into a wig for a cancer patient undergoing chemo therapy. She then went out and bought new bed clothes. "Hey Eric."

"Yeah?"

"Think that I should just totally redo my house?"

"Or move out?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, which one? Redo or move?"

"I think that you should move."

"OK." Eric took Calleigh out to find a new apartment complex to move in to. Now Calleigh was laughing at Horatio as he tripped over her new dog, Mercutio. "Did you have to get such a bothersome dog?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Just a small one… he's going to cause me to drop and break all of this china."

"OK… Mercutio, go lie down!" The Cane Corso went over next to Calleigh's couch and flopped down onto the ground as if saying "Is this good enough for you?" Moments later, Calleigh's dachshund tromped over to where Mercutio was laying. The small dog climbed on top of the larger one and plopped down for a nice nap. "Looks like Fable and Mercutio are finally getting along."

"Yeah. Mercutio just had to get used to the fact that he's sharing a house with two other dogs."

"Where's Lanky?"

"Lanky?"

"Yeah. You generally call him Spock."

"Oh! Spock! Come!" Upon hearing his name, the gentle Keeshond trudged out of his favorite spot next to the air conditioner. "I'm sorry, Spock. Did I disturb your nap?" Horatio chuckled. "What's so funny, Lanky?"

"Hey, that's your dog's name. I'm laughing because of how you talk to your dogs."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"No. It's just really cute." Calleigh smiled. Spock and Fable started to bark. Mercutio looked to where Spock and Fable were looking at. Then he started to growl. Mercutio stood and bounded over to the intruder. "Holy shit! Someone call off this dog!"

"Mercutio, down!" Calleigh walked to where she could see who Mercutio was attacking. Calleigh let out a small cackle. "I'm half tempted to just let Mercutio to continue. Should I, Horatio?"

"I would." Horatio glared at the person standing before him. "How the hell did you get out of jail so soon?"

"Stetler posted my bail. He asked that when I got out, I make Calleigh's life as much of a hell as possible." Calleigh smirked. "You do realize that there is an attack dog less than half a foot away from you, right? Even if you try to get your gun, he'll have already tackled you to the ground and will be tearing you up. You won't be able to get your gun. AT ALL."

"Try it. I dare you."

"Mercutio, get him." In half a second, the large dog was on top of Hagan, tearing him up. Hagan was completely unable to get his gun. "Call him off! Please!"

"Mercutio, down!" Hagan glared at Calleigh. "You're a total bitch, Calleigh. I hope that when you die, you burn in Hell."

"Don't worry about that, Hagan; I'm working on it just so I can kick your ass when I meet you down there." Horatio had to turn away just to keep from laughing. The look on Hagan's face even caused Calleigh to almost lose her cool. "Get lost, Hagan. Unless you want Mercutio on your case again, I suggest that you never come back."

"Fine, but remember, there will still be other places that I can cause you to go through hell."

"Remember that I too can make your life hell." Horatio smirked at Hagan. The two knew that Horatio had power to get him suspended or fired, and Horatio knew that Hagan needed his job to make other peoples' lives miserable. He wouldn't be coming back, or messing with Calleigh ever again.


End file.
